I thought I’d kick off the week with this lovely note I received from a TLT reader and elementary school teacher:
Bettina,
I’ve emailed you a couple of times in the past. I’m a fifth grade teacher that works outside of Buffalo, NY (the chicken wing capital of the world). This year has been an enlightening experience for me as a teacher. Throughout the year I taught about nutrition and actually made food within the classroom. Today, our class made stir fry (brown basmati rice in a rice cooker, asparagus, onions, peppers, kale, broccoli, and tofu with teriyaki). 22 out of 23 students in my class today begged for seconds. So I did a survey against our typical school lunch that was offered today (chicken nuggets). 20 out of 22 students preferred stir fry with tofu over chicken nuggets. Fresh real food wins out in my fifth grade class.
Sean
Kids will accept “real food,” yet it’s not always easy for them to make the best food choices when less healthy alternatives are readily available. But this teacher, by offering repeated exposures to new foods and bolstering those exposures with education and encouragement, created just the kind of supportive atmosphere that moves kids in the right direction.
Bravo!
If you’re an educator or school nutrition professional with positive experiences like this one, please feel free to share in comment below.
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